I used to think I was a ghost, and that no one knew me, but I am as transparent as the air you breathe. I don’t care about making it big anymore. Now I just want something, anything, to make sense. Maybe some day I will know my purpose, and when that day comes, I just hope I’m still sane enough to help.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Personal Aspirations in J-Pan, #3

Now it’s time for another special edition of my aspirations with the Japanese language. I’m not really in the mood for lengthy introductions, so without further ado, here is where I’m at with my five goals.

Goal #1:Be able to have a simple conversation with my sister entirely in Japanese. I’m closer to this for sure. The conversations are still quite simplistic though. We have kind of a running joke right now that we use certain Japanese verb tenses to end our sentences in English. “Are you going to school today, ka?” “Why don’t we go eat breakfast masenka?” Somehow, it provides us with endless entertainment.

Goal #2:Play through a dialogue-intensive Japanese game, and actually understand it. I still haven’t started on this one, and really, at this point, it seems a little childish and stupid. This isn’t to say I won’t still do it, mind you.

Goal #3:Watch a Japanese cartoon, with no subtitles, and actually understand it. Well, in class, we’ve actually begun watching several movies without subs, and I must say I’m understanding next to none of it. I recognize a few expressions here and there, but for the most part, I’m getting about as much out of these movies as I would if the sound were off.

Goal #4:Apply to the JET Programme, and teach English in Japan. Well, I got rejected by the JET Programme, so during the break I enrolled in the TESOL United course, and got myself certified over the break. In a way, I’m actually glad I got rejected, because instead of being an assistant language teacher (which basically means being the token English gaijin in the classroom), I’ll be able to teach my own class, and design my own course. This is, of course, something I would have no idea how to do, had I not taken this course, but I have, and I do. I’m not entirely sure where to go from here, because I can start looking for work immediately, or I can loiter around the city another a year and continue my studies in English literature and Japanese here. There are merits to both, and I’m sure, strictly speaking, that there’s no wrong answer.

Goal #5:Write a short story in Japanese. I haven’t started yet. And now, time seems to be running out. In some free writing classes, we all get to try our hand at story telling, but in the time provided, we tend only to have time for about twelve sentences, if that.